Someone Revoke Zimmerman's Brother Of His 1st Amendment Rights.

Pretty much everyone would go to extreme lengths to defend their family. I get that... but to me, justice is so much more important than lying and defending your murderous brother.

Robert Zimmerman, the brother of George Zimmerman (the man who shot Trayvon Martin in an unprovoked attack) made this tweet last Sunday:

Robert Zimmerman truly is a dumb-ass, just like his brother (this trait clearly runs in their family). On one hand him running his racist mouth is annoying and predictable but on the other hand, he is making things very difficult for Zimmerman's defence.  

Robert has since apologised on Piers Morgan regarding his tweets:

 "I realize those were controversial and offensive, and I did publicly apologize for them. I don't think it was the right thing to do that way. I understand it's controversial and I apologize for it and I'm sincere about that. I shouldn't have done it this way."

Robert's apology does not come from a sincere place, especially since he only attempted to recant because of the backlash he received.

In response to Robert's tweets, there is no defence for killing anyone, even when they throw up 'fuck you' signs or gang signs in photographs. And to even justify and defend your brother's killing by using a completely isolated case (which even took a completely different turn (apparently the killing of the one-year-old boy was premeditated)) shows just how prejudiced the Zimmerman family really are.

They can carry on with this smear campaign against Trayvon Martin and all other black boys. They're just digging themselves a deeper hole in the process.

I Don't Really Consider Myself As A Black Girl Model.

Source

Devyn, the fashion industry will remind you that you is black, black, black and black.

The First Ethiopian Miss Israel And The Forced Sterilisation of Ethiopian Jews.

Without a doubt, the first Ethiopian Miss Israel is a beautiful young woman with a smile so charming, that Obama even invited her to a White House gala dinner.

Major congrats to Miss Yityish Aynaw. Her beauty was definitely unparalleled at Miss Israel 2013. 

I really don't want to take away from her incredible achievement; it's a major record breaking, history making, achievement. However, I can't help but notice how convenient the win was for the Israeli government/propaganda machine. 

Why? 

Because a number of weeks ago, reports came that the Israeli government had been using long-term birth control on Ethiopian Jews under false pretences. For years, female Ethiopian Jews were injected with Depo-Provera; a long-term birth control that lasts for three months. Scare tactics were used to terrify these women into taking these injections, even when it went against their will.

According to Haaretz, Health Ministry Director General Prof. Roni Gamzu has ordered for these birth control injections to stop, unless the recipients understand the implications of taking the birth control.

While I understand the importance of consent, (i.e. medical treatment and scientific research, both of which depend on consent in order to be carried out), I'm quite infuriated about the fact that these women's opinions and feelings were never taken into consideration.

No kind of thought was given to how this infringed these women's human rights. 

And as if ignoring the feelings of these women wasn't bad enough, some writers have had a 'what's the big deal?' attitude about this. Remember, Depo-Provera is a long-term birth control and not a permanent sterilisation treatment, but some writers think that makes it ok because the women aren't permanently prevented from having children. These writers have completely missed the point here. 

My main issue with this is the fact that these rights that so many Western and Israeli Jews take for granted, are not being given to these women who are very worthy of being in Israel. They're not told the truth, they're not given the opportunity to choose and they're being prevented from doing what most women desire; have children and raise them. 

Just to conclude, I'm pleased that the Depo-Provera prescriptions are being stopped and that it was never a 'permanent' solution to begin with. However, I'm quite aware of what Israel's intentions were with this and I know for a fact that Yityish's win served as a great distraction, more so because her win got more media attention than the actual birth control issue. Furthermore, perhaps this win was Israel's attempt to prove its diversity and progressiveness when it comes to co-existing with people of other races. I'm happy for Yityish and her accomplishments, but I haven't forgotten what they've done to her people... our people; women and Africans.

I Take My Coffee Black, Like My Men.

Peace Africa.

Regrading Brandon Stanton of HONY, Businesses Need To Stop Exploiting Art

If you haven't heard of Humans of New York, your Facebook feed is seriously missing out.

Brandon Stanton is a street photographer who snaps shots of New Yorkers for Humans of New York. The shots are candid and untouched but very nice to look at... particularly because New Yorkers have so much individuality and 'culture'. Humans of New York shows just how diverse the city is and how different New Yorkers can be from one another.

Given Stanton's very popular and impressive shots, it's unsurprising that DKNY stole the images after he turned down their offer to purchase them .

The backstory:

• DKNY wanted to use Stanton's images and offered $15,000 in exchange for 300 pics
• Stanton's friend said $50 per pic from a company worth millions is not enough
• Stanton rejected DKNY
• DKNY used his images anyway
• Fan sends picture of Stanton's images in a DKNY store in Bangkok
• Stanton demanded that DKNY donate $100,000 on his behalf to a Bed-Stuy YMCA
• DKNY explains the situation, offers an apology and donates $25,000 on behalf of Stanton to the Bed-Stuy YMCA

DKNY has clearly crossed the line in this case and their 'compensation' wasn't nearly enough for a million dollar business. 

Furthermore, violating copyright is punishable by law. I'm guessing they didn't think anyone would notice the photographs in a DKNY store in Bangkok so they proceeded to violate copyright laws anyway. 

From an artists' point of view (if you regard writers as artists), it pains me to see plagiarism and counterfeiting of artists' work. They put the time into it, they put the struggle into it, they put their passion into it... only for it to be passed off by someone else as their own work.  

The work of artists is here to be shared (that's what artists do, share their work) but that doesn't mean their work should be regarded as 'free' just because it is shared.

The irony of this entire situation is that DKNY is part of the fashion industry; its entire basis is on art. From artist to artist, DKNY should have accepted that

• their offer was abysmal; $15,000 for 300 pictures is nearly nothing
• Stanton rejected their offer; they should have respected his decisions
• they couldn't use his images without his 'go-ahead'

But like most iconic and major fashion companies, DKNY are now just in the business of making money. So it really wasn't that surprising that DKNY did what they did. 

Like everything else, art is a trade, people don't do it for 'free' unless they say they do. Don't assume that it is 'free'. Artists have to make a living too. 

Artists who have got to a stage where they deem themselves valuable, should start demanding incentives for their work. You can't keep doing free work for people if your artistry is your only source of income.

Artists also have to go out of their way to protect their work. I sometimes like to post art but if I can't locate where or who it has come from, I can hardly add a source to it. It's not that I don't want you to get your recognition, sometimes it's hard to say who it is from. 

Artists should keep their watermarks/signatures on their work because people will attempt to pass it off as their own; protect your work and use a good watermark/signature so that it can't be easily exploited.

Stanton's reaction in this is commendable. He wasn't asking for money for his personal use, he was asking for it to be donated to an organisation that does good for children.

Stanton started a fundraiser to raise the remainder of the $100,000 he requested from DKNY and he got about $103,710 (last time I checked).

Artists, protect your work. Demand incentives.